Providing Relief to Students Displaced by Katrina

About the Author

Federal
policymakers are now considering proposals to provide emergency
relief to assist the estimated 372,000 K-12 students whom Hurricane
Katrina displaced. The Administration has called for an emergency
K-12 education package worth $2.4 billion. The package includes
$1.9 billion in funding for public school systems that have taken
in displaced students and an additional $488 million to reimburse
families of displaced students for tuition payments to private
schools. A number of other education relief packages have been
proposed in Congress. Similarly, Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu
(D) and David Vitter (R) have introduced a comprehensive emergency
aid package that includes offering $4,000 per student in grants to
public and private schools for each displaced student enrolled.
Other proposals in Congress, however, have called for restricting
reimbursements to public schools. For example, the Displaced
Students Relief Act would provide local public school districts
with $8,305 per displaced student they enroll. In contrast to the
Bush Administration and the Landrieu-Vitter proposal, the Displaced
Students Relief Act restricts family's educational opportunities
and does not treat all schools that have taken in displaced
students fairly. Congress should support a package that provides
educational relief to all displaced families, whether they seek
assistance from public or private schools.

The Bush
Administration Proposal

The
Administration's K-12 relief package includes $1.9 billion for
public schools and $488 million for private schools. Public school
districts that take in more than 10 displaced students would
receive grants worth 90 percent of the state's average per-pupil
expenditure, up to $7,500. These costs would be paid for the
2005-06 school year, delivered in quarterly installments. In
addition, the Administration proposal would provide tuition
reimbursement to displaced families that have enrolled their
children in private schools.

The Displaced
Students Relief Act

In contrast, the
Displaced Students Relief Act would grant local school systems
$8,305 for every displaced student that they enroll. This program
would exist for two years, and private schools would not be
eligible for funding. While the bill's sponsors have not provided a
cost estimate, if all 372,000 displaced students take advantage of
it, the program would cost $3.1 billion. The actual cost is likely
to be somewhat lower because some students will enroll in private
schools despite the lack of federal reimbursement.

An Evaluation of the
Proposals

Offering
assistance to displaced children regardless of where they attend
school during the year, as the Administration's proposal does, is
both fairer and more practical than restricting aid to public
school students, as in the Displaced Students Relief Act. Before
the hurricane, many of these children were enrolled in private
schools in Gulf Coast states. For example, one in three students in
the New Orleans area was enrolled in a private school-a far higher
proportion than the 11 percent of students who attend private
schools nationally. More than 61,000 students evacuated from
Louisiana alone were previously enrolled in private schools.

Limiting displaced
students' educational options to public schools alone would have
negative consequences. It would shift the entire burden of
educating 372,000 displaced students onto public schools, while
making it more difficult for private schools that have already
welcomed displaced students to recoup their costs. In addition,
limiting the options of families whose children had been attending
private schools would force many displaced students into less
familiar environments and thereby needlessly exacerbate the
challenge of fitting in as part of a new community.

Allowing displaced
families to choose the best school for their children, as the
Administration and others have proposed, would have a number of
important benefits. Most importantly, it would make the best use of
all available classroom seats.

Education Smart
Cards: A Method of Implementing Private School Reimbursement

While the
Administration is committed to giving displaced families in the
ability to choose between public and private schools, it has
released few details about the mechanism by which parents would be
reimbursed for tuition payments to private schools. The Department
of Education has stated its intention to work with legislators on
Capitol Hill to design the most suitable mechanism for delivering
aid to the parents of displaced students attending private
schools.

One way to provide
this reimbursement is with Education Smart Cards. An Education
Smart Card could be worth $7,500, some percentage of per-pupil
expenditures in the local district, or any other set amount
determined by Congress. Using basic credit card technology, private
schools operating in accordance with state law could draw on
Education Smart Cards for tuition payments over the next 12 months.
In addition, policymakers could allow supplementary education
service providers, such as those offering after-school tutoring, to
draw on the cards. After 12 months, any unspent funds remaining on
a child's Education Smart Card could be rolled over into an
education savings account created on the child's behalf, such as
already exist under federal law. Families could use these funds to
cover future educational expenditures.

Simple
Technology: Education Smart Cards would use simple technology
that is already being used by a number of government programs, such
as the Food Stamps program. Families would receive electronic cards
that work like debit cards with a Personal Identification Number
(PIN) that can only be used at authorized providers. As with the
Food Stamp debit card program, participating private schools would
receive processing machines to receive payments.

Determining
Eligibility and Accountability: Eligibility to receive
Education Smart Cards could be determined following guidelines that
FEMA has already established.

A Source of
Information: One benefit of the Education Smart Card program is
that it would automatically provide information demonstrating that
students are actually enrolled in school.

Maximize
Flexibility and Mobility: The Education Smart Card scholarship
program would also give families flexibility. This is particularly
important because some displaced families may want to relocate in
the coming months and transfer their children to new schools in the
middle of the school year. Families would be able to use unused
fund on Education Smart Cards to enroll elsewhere. Families could
also use left-over funds for tutoring services during the summer-a
valuable benefit because many children will have had a delayed
start to their school years. Moreover, after any remaining funds
are rolled over into Coverdell education savings accounts set up on
their children's behalf after twelve months, families could
continue to spend Education Smart Card resources on qualifying
education services.

Conclusion

Opponents of
school choice such as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and the National
Education Association have criticized the Administration's proposal
to reimburse families seeking assistance from private schools as an
'ideological' voucher program that would undermine public
education. These criticisms are unfair and divert attention from
the issue at hand: this is a temporary emergency relief program
designed to help affected students begin to make their lives whole
again. Allowing displaced students to attend private schools is
fair and practical. It will increase the likelihood that families
are able to enroll their children in the classrooms most suited to
those students' individual needs during this challenging
transition. As Congress looks to provide aid to displaced students,
it should consider Education Smart Cards as an efficient method to
deliver those funds.